The Survival Games
by Lotr030201
Summary: Not putting it in the crossover section, but this is a CO with Hunger Games. AU. The Depression's worsened. A rebellion was raised four years back, and now they have the Survival Games to pay for what they had done. The Walton children get scared every year, and this year is no different, except after one child enters the Games, his world changes drastically. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Summary/Author's Note: Waltons/Hunger Games Crossover. AU. The Depression's worsened. A rebellion was raised four years back, and now they have the Survival Games to pay for what they had done. The Walton children get scared every year, and this year is no different, except after one child enters the Games, his world changes drastically.

Now here's the Author's Note. I know that this is an odd combination, but I was bored one day and this just popped into my head. R&R!

The Survival Games

Chapter One

Only one noise coming from outside woke me up.

My eyes opened, and I noticed neither one of my little brothers were in the room. They were probably in Momma and Daddy's room. If not, they'd be in John Boy's or Grandma and Grandpa's.

I sat up, and slipped my shoes on. If I didn't wear shoes while walking, something might stick into my foot. That's how bad everything's gotten. Believe it or not, our house is better than some others. But these weren't even shoes. They were a pair of John Boy's old boots. I got up and walked over to the closet. I open it, look inside, and grab an old ratty shirt and a pair of holey faded jeans. I throw them on the bed, sit down, and then kick off the boots. I take off the nightshirt and put on the old threadbare clothes. Then I put the boots back on, lace them up, and go downstairs. No one seems to be awake yet, and I can hear the faint snoring coming from Grandpa and Grandma's room. Slowly I creep past their door and then walk outside. It's still dark out, but I hear a few birds. That's the first time in months that I'd actually heard them. I walked towards the fence. We don't have any open yards or anything anymore. Every home was fenced in. Our saw mill is the main thing that keeps us going, even though we barely have any more lumber to do that with. And if that ever shut down, five other siblings and myself would go down to Ike's story every month to turn in our names for some candles, bread, meat, and if we were lucky, some firewood. I knew Ike hated doing that, though. We were family to him. Out of all seven of us, Elizabeth was the only lucky one. She wasn't old enough to turn her name in. Not yet. Only a year or so left of her being spared. I overheard Momma and Daddy one night talking about their money problems, so now I'm thinking about selling my harmonica and giving them the money.

I look out at the landscape. I remember walking one day and saw a little sprout sticking out of the ground. I smiled like a fool, since I hadn't seen a tree in forever. A few years ago everyone had chopped down all of the trees to where there were none around to have firewood for winter.

I dug out my hole at the fence once again. I've done this for so long, the soil moves in a big clump if I barely nudge it. I'm out of the confined house area in no time. After looking around for anyone, I take off. I ran until I reached the one place on the mountain with some vegetation. Daddy made a bargain with Ike and a lot more people on this mountain to keep a patch for the animals. Not really any trees. It was mainly brush. I get down on the ground and lay down. I could just lay here and stare at the sky for hours on end. Sometimes my friend, Seth, would join me. That is, until he died. He gave me a wooden recorder, and at the time I was so mad at him I didn't want to be around him. I wanted nothing to do with him. But afterwards we made up and soon after he died. I felt so guilty. At times when I was alone and I had nothing to do, I'd play it.

I took the recorder out and began to play. Today was a day like no other, even though it came every year. Today was the day that the idiots in the Capitol choose two Tributes from every State. It's heard all over North America, and we _all _know where the Capitol is since that's where it's filmed and recorded. The Capitol is somewhere up in Montana. Things are a bit different now than they used to be. About a year ago, they blew up about 38 states, Texas and New Mexico included. Virginia was one of the lucky states that wasn't blown to pieces. And I thought nothing of it when I heard about North and South Carolina being blown up. I hadn't realized that this Depression had driven everyone nuts. Everyone was so mad at it that they actually attacked the Government. So many people died in that battle. Luckily, all that happened to Daddy was that he got a broken leg. Momma was livid, and so was Grandma. But they had both been able to stop Grandpa and John Boy from going to attack.

No one's allowed to be outside the fencing area until the sun rises, so I stop playing and stand. I look around and then run off. I don't stop until I see my house in the distance and then just speed walk the rest of the way, looking over my shoulder for any Capitol goons. There are bound to be some. It is Reaping Day after all.

I go under the fence and put the soil back into its place. I go back into the house and see Momma in the kitchen, doing her best to make breakfast for the eleven of us. We didn't really have enough food and could only make small helpings for ourselves. Poor Elizabeth always asks for more, and it breaks Momma's heart every time she sees how hungry we all are. "My children shouldn't be starving." She'd say. "None of us are. It's not fair."

I sneak up the stairs, and look into Momma and Daddy's room. Daddy must be freshening up because the only people in the bed are my brothers Ben and Jim-Bob. They're stirring and I hear Ben moan. None of us sleep peacefully anymore, especially the younger ones. I go back to my room and lay on my bed. I shut my eyes, and when I open them again, I see Elizabeth at the side of my bed.

"Jason, I'm hungry." She says.

"I know, baby." I sit up and ruffle her hair that used to be a vivid red. So vivid it would blind you in the sun. Now, it was dull, just like everything else in this town.

"Jason?"

"What?"

"Do you think one of us are going to be called today?"

I sigh. "I hope not."

"Will you be called today?"

"I hope not." I repeat, shaking my head. Elizabeth wraps her arms around me.

"Do you think I'll ever be called?"

"Honey, I'm hoping that this'll be over before you have to put your name in."

"Me too." She pulls away and looks at me. "I get so scared every year."

"Me too."

Elizabeth gives me one more hug and then leaves. Ben pops his head into the room.

"Jason, can I talk to you?" he asks.

"Sure." I tell him, and scoot over on the bed. Ben walks in and sits next to me.

"I'm worried about today. I have a bad feeling."

"What do you mean?"

"I think I might get called today."

I'm not going to lie. It was worrisome. At age 12, one slip of your name gets turned in. Every month we have to put our names in for the wood and stuff, and another slip is handed in. Ben is 14. He should only have six slips in.

He has 30.

The ending age for people to be called it 22. I'm 20. I'm supposed to have nine slips.

But instead, I have 57 with Jason Walton delicately and carefully written on them. But I don't worry about myself. I worry more about John Boy. He's 22, and he has 78 slips in.

"Ben," I say, finally. "It's more likely that John Boy or I will be called."

"I don't want that happening either." Ben snaps.

"I don't either, Ben. But we can't help what happens."

It was extremely hard. You never know what might happen. Last year, Erin's name got called, but another girl, I can't remember her name, volunteered for her instead. Near the end, she ended up getting killed and Erin felt so guilty. She just now started getting over it. No one really volunteers. Too scared.

"I know we can't. It's the stupid Capitol's fault." Ben mumbles the last part. Momma got onto John Boy once for cursing the Capitol like what Ben did except with a few select words. Unspeakable things happen if you did that, but no one was really sure what it was.

The rest of the day passes, slowly but quickly at the same time, I couldn't really explain it.

We all head out and I could hear Grandma muttering a prayer.

"Amen." All of us mutter. Then, we get separated. Jim-Bob with the 12 year olds, Ben with the 14 year olds, Erin with the 16 year olds, Mary Ellen with the 18 year olds, I get stuck with the 20 year olds, and John Boy with the 22 year olds.

A girl my age looks at me. She has soft red hair and blue eyes. She gives me what I think should be a smile, and then turns away. I close my eyes and take in a deep breath.

"Welcome everyone!" says a woman with that bleach blonde hair and an ugly green dress. "Welcome to the 4th annual Survival Games!" she smiles. No one whoops or cheers. We stay silent. Only four years, and we've lost so many people it's not even funny. Her name's Nancy Carmen.

I can't stand that lady. She's so annoying. And every year, her hair and dress are different. Last year, her dress was white and her hair was black. And she was always happy. As if she was glad that 23 people that year were going to die. And every year, no one knows who it's going to be. The national anthem begins to play, and we all place our hands or hats over our hearts. I only do it now because we're being filmed. I can't show anymore pride in my country anymore. Then the man who was next to Nancy (or as Ben and I call her Miss Annoying) stood and told us the history, even though we all live through it.

"Four years ago today, a mob of people from the remaining 12 swarmed the Capitol, which at that time was in Washington, D.C. I know that some people in this crowd here were part of the mob." I looked back and saw Daddy shuffle his feet, moving side to side. Even now, his leg still bothers him. "Now, to pay for what you had done, the Games had been installed. 24 teenagers or young adults are called in; only one can come out alive." He looked at Nancy. "Choose your Tributes, Miss Carmen."

"Gladly." She smiled broadly. I tried not to gag. "Now it's time to draw the names!" I rolled my eyes. "Ladies first!" she called in a high squeaky voice. I couldn't wait to get home so that we could make fun of her, like every year. Momma and Grandma would usually get onto us about it. But I knew that, secretly, they were laughing along with us. The girl that got called was Caroline Smith, whoever that is. She was in John Boy's age group and walked up to the stage. Then, Nancy moved to the side with the boy's names. I closed my eyes and began praying. I opened my eyes right when Nancy opened her mouth. "Ben Walton." She called.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I see Ben stiffen up. He stands there for a minute, and I can't even imagine what's going through his head. Slowly but surely, he moves forward to the stage. I sputter for a moment, trying to get the words out of my mouth.

"Wait! Ben! Stop!" I finally yell. Ben turns and looks at me, tears running down his face. I knew those must've been tears of horror. I run out of the crowd, and a guard pulls me back. "No! No!" I struggle and I see Nancy looking at Ben impatiently. "I volunteer!" I finally shout.

Ben looks at me with wide eyes. I haven't seen his eyes that wide ever since Daddy came home with that broken leg and Momma said a few select words that day that none of us had ever heard her say.

_1934_

"_John!" Momma ran out the door. "Oh dear Lord!"_

"_What's wrong, Momma?" Ben asked, opening the door. His eyes grew wide as he saw Ike and another man carrying Daddy inside the house. Mary Ellen, Erin, and I looked out the window. Jim-Bob and Elizabeth were already in bed, and John Boy came down the stairs._

"_What's all this ruckus about?" he asked._

"_I don't know." Erin said._

"_It's something about Daddy I think." Mary Ellen responded. _

_Ben came back inside right as Momma banged the screen door open. "Put him on the couch. I told him not to go!" she went into the kitchen and grabbed a rag and wet it. She went over to Daddy, who was passed out. I saw Ike nod and then he looked at Momma._

"_Olivia, we're going to go get a doctor." He said. "We'll be back as soon as possible."_

"_You be careful out there, Ike. It's madness out there." Momma said._

"_Thank you. Come on, Sam." Ike nodded to the stranger in our home and then the two left._

"_What's going on?" Grandma came out, Grandpa behind her putting on his overalls. John Boy stood next to the fireplace in shock._

"_Daddy's hurt, Grandma." He said. "He's hurt real bad."_

"_I told him. I told him not to go to that rebellion." Grandma walked over to the couch where Daddy was and stood next to Momma. John Boy still stood at the fireplace, expressionless. I looked at him._

"_John Boy?" I walked over to him. He shook his head, staring at Daddy as Momma and Grandma were trying to get him back to consciousness._

"_The damn Capitol." He said. "I hate them." And then, he said something I thought my brother would never say in a million years. "I fucking hate them."_

"_John Walton Jr.!" Momma shouted at him. She was already stressed enough. Her hair was coming out of her braid and I saw tears going down her face. "You are not to talk about the Capitol that way! With that language is even worse! Now go! Go wash your mouth out!" Momma pointed upstairs to the bathroom. John Boy stormed up the stairs without a moment's hesitation. _

"_I can't believe he said that. Not with the kids around." Grandma muttered. _

"_Grandma that is the last thing on my mind right now." Momma said. "Right now I'm more worried about John."_

_There was thundering on the stairs as John Boy stormed back down, Daddy's hunting rifle in his hand. My eyes widened._

"_Where are you going?" Mary Ellen asked._

"_D.C." John Boy answered. Grandpa nodded._

"_I think I'll go with you, John Boy." He said, following him. Grandma looked at him._

"_Zebulun Walton, you will not leave this house!"_

"_I am a grown man. I can do as I please." Grandpa told her._

"_You're acting like a child, Zeb. This is the last thing we need."_

"_John Boy, you put that gun down now." Momma snapped going over to him. _

"_We have to go, Momma. They almost killed Daddy."_

"_No you do not." Momma yanked the gun from John Boy's hands. "We need all the help we can get right now with your father wounded as badly as he is." _

_John Boy stormed upstairs. Grandpa stayed put. _

"_Zeb." Grandma said. "You're too old to be getting into that mess."_

"_I am not."_

"_Yes you are. Now you stay here. I mean it."_

_Momma shook her head. "John Boy's right though." She said, quietly. "Damn that Capitol. Damn them to Hell."_

"_Momma." I said, shocked._

"_Well, it's true." Momma huffed._

_1938_

Murmurs go through the crowd like wildfire. I walk up and take Ben by the shoulders.

"Jason..." he whimpers.

"Go." I tell him. "Get back into the crowd."

The 22 year olds, since they're oldest they're the closet to the stage, look at each other. John Boy takes a few steps forward and places his hands on Ben's shoulders.

"Go on up there, Jason. I got him." He says.

"No. Jason I'll go. I was called anyway." Ben objects.

"No Ben." I start up the steps.

"Jason—"

"I said no!"

Ben takes a step back, shocked at the force in my voice. John Boy thins his lips and squeezes Ben's shoulders gently. "Come on." I hear him whisper to him. Tears well in Ben's eyes again. I take a deep breath and walk up there. Next thing I know, I'm standing next to Nancy Carmen.

"My, now, isn't this lovely?" she smiles wider. "What's your name?"

"Jason Walton." I answer.

"Ah. So, that young man there must be your little brother?"

"Yes ma'am."

Nancy giggles and looks out into the crowd. "A brother volunteers for his little brother. How sweet."

I refrain from rolling my eyes. This lady didn't even know what sweet was. I hear Elizabeth wail. Momma and Daddy are holding each other close. Grandma and Grandpa are watching with grim expressions and I think Grandma's doing her best not to cry. Jim-Bob is watching me, biting his nails. Erin's bottom lip is quivering and she starts crying. Mary Ellen is mouthing something and shaking her head no. John Boy and Ben stand there watching me and then they, too, disperse into the crowd and I'm standing next to Caroline Smith.

"We have our Tributes everyone!" Nancy holds out her arms, one hand on me, and one hand on Caroline. "Caroline Smith and Jason Walton!" Caroline and I face each other and shake hands. "Jason Walton and Caroline Smith from State 12!"

We weren't known as Virginia anymore. State 12's our 'official' name now. Just like how Louisiana is State 1, North Dakota is State 2, South Dakota is State 3, Montana is State 4, Washington is State 5, Arizona is State 6, Colorado is State 7, California is State 8, Florida is State 9, Kansas is State 10, Wyoming is State 11.

I stop shaking Caroline's hand and I finally saw that she had blonde hair and green eyes. She was a beautiful girl. The sad part?

I had to kill her.


End file.
